The Prison Guard's Journey: From Hell to the Western Pure Land

This is a record of an interview with Liu Linnian, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life and his service as a prison guard in the hell realms. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Faxin, on March 17, 2023.

Liu Linnian speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Arriving here in the golden, radiant Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, my heart is filled with such immense joy. It is a beautiful, magnificent dream that I never imagined would truly come to pass. The splendour of this Western Pure Land is all before my eyes, and I am struck with such profound awe. I am deeply grateful to the Buddha for granting me this opportunity. I believe that the other prison guards who arrived here in the Western Pure Land with me today share this same overwhelming joy.

I am Liu Linnian. Since I was young, I have always been quite timid. Whenever I heard unusual sounds, I would instinctively feel a sense of fear, wanting to hide away in some dark corner to ensure my own safety.

A Connection with the Smallest Beings

In my dreams, I often felt myself crawling upon the earth. I could feel the dampness of the soil and the faint, sweet scent of the grass. I would see ants and bees busy at work; the scenes felt so incredibly familiar, a sensation that lingered even after I woke up.

My family lived near the mountains, where there were always many small insects. A natural force would draw me to crouch down and observe them, and sometimes, I would even speak to them. It was truly strange—some of the insects seemed to understand exactly what I was saying. Once, I told them, 'A heavy rain is coming soon. You must leave quickly, or you will not survive when the downpour hits.' To my astonishment, not long after, they had all vanished.

On another occasion, a swarm of small insects crawled into our home, which made my mother very angry. I used my mental note to communicate with them: 'This is not a place for you. You must leave immediately, or you will bring disaster upon yourselves.' In the blink of an eye, every single insect had disappeared from the house. Many times, I wondered to myself why I possessed such an ability.

The Nightmare of Karmic Retribution

One day, I had another dream. In this dream, several massive feet appeared. As I looked up at these giant feet, I saw them stomping back and forth. Not only I, but many other small insects were terrified. I could hear the sickening 'squelch' of them being crushed underfoot. Countless insects were flattened and killed by these giant feet, their lives extinguished before they could even let out a cry of pain. After the feet moved on, the mangled remains of the insects became floating spirits. Just as I was mourning for them, I was suddenly crushed by a heavy foot myself. It was a nightmare that jolted me awake. I looked at my own body, drenched in a cold sweat from the sheer terror of it.

From that day on, whenever I looked at the insects on the ground, I saw them differently. Each one was a life, a precious, fragile life.

I observed that the mortality rate of these insects was incredibly high. They were crushed, drowned, or eaten by birds and other animals; very few insects lived long lives. When such thoughts filled my heart, I longed to do something to protect their lives.

The Truth of Past Lives

When I made this vow, I suddenly saw a vision of my past self, carrying a hard shell. It turned out that I had once been an insect myself. Beyond that shell, I had sharp blades that I could wield.

When I was that insect, I was fierce and snobbish. I constantly sought to expand my territory, believing that the weapons on my body were enough to fend off any enemy. I was so naive. The more arrogant my attitude, the more miserable my end. Just as I was preparing to attack another insect, a bird diving from high above snatched me up. I had no time to react. After flying for a while, I was dropped into a nest. I heard the chirping of many little birds, and then, they tore my insect body apart. I died in pieces, suffering in agony.

The vision flashed again. I understood that being an insect was the karmic retribution I had to endure. In a past life, I had been a wealthy man. During an era when the civilians were suffering, I saw them dying but refused to save them. I only cared for myself, unwilling to extend a helping hand. I was incredibly selfish, self-centred, and narrow-minded. Once my blessings were exhausted in that lifetime, I was immediately reborn as an insect. I lived as an insect many times, and my deaths were never pleasant.

Learning from the Past

After witnessing the laws of karma and cause and effect from my past lives, I took it as a warning. I reminded myself never to repeat the mistakes of the past. When I was a child, I was often bullied by a group of children. Even then, I dared not utter a word, because I knew that this group of children were the very civilians I had refused to save in the past. Meeting them in this lifetime, I knew I had to repay what was owed to them.

My body was also frequently injured. Although those around me were worried, I knew this was the karmic retribution I had to bear, so I dared not harbour any complaints.

I knew that I had harboured many evil thoughts in the past, which led to these evil consequences. Now that I had regained a human body, I told myself that I must strive to think well and see well.

A Life of Simple Integrity

These were my own realisations. I was born into a lower-middle-class family. My parents were manual labourers, earning just enough to get by. To survive, they were busy every day, and the only education they gave us was to look after ourselves.

My mother was often busy with the struggles of life, and her mouth was always full of complaints, radiating a great deal of negative energy.

My parents hoped that I would be a successful child, as I was the eldest son. However, my thoughts were different from theirs. I did not want to enter that highly competitive world and create more karma. I just wanted to stay by their side and be a filial son. My parents argued with me for a long time over this, but eventually, they had to compromise.

There were not many job options at home, and most were manual labour. My first job was following Uncle Niu to farm, but I did not do this for long. When tilling the soil, I could hear the sounds of insects being harmed and churned in the earth. When weeding, we sprayed pesticides, and I knew clearly that it caused the death of countless insects—a number so vast I could not calculate. My heart could not bear it. I once tried to counsel Uncle Niu, but he would not listen to a young lad like me. I knew Uncle Niu was harming beings and that there were laws of karma and cause and effect involved, but I had done my best to counsel him. When I could not change his mind, I had to choose to let go.

Later, I tried carpentry and construction, but I gave them up because I could hear the wailing of beings. Finally, I found work selling watermelons. I would communicate with the watermelons to see which were sweet and ripe enough to sell. Every watermelon I sold was sweet, and my reputation grew until I became a very successful vendor. I earned some money, saved some, and honoured my parents. They were happy, and I was happy too.

My life was stable. I did not marry, not by design, but simply because there was no Causal Condition to meet anyone.

Protecting Life and Serving in Hell

Outside of work, I took care of the surrounding environment and tried my best to prevent any destruction. I believed that by maintaining the environment, I could protect more lives. Whenever there was pollution, I would step forward to coordinate. As long as I was there, I would protect the space for living beings to grow. This was something I insisted upon. I would educate those I knew; some would complain that I was nagging, but they were still planted with good concepts.

I lived an ordinary life, but I loved protecting life.

When I was sixty-one, red rashes began to grow on my legs. After the rashes spread over my entire body, I lost my life.

Not long after I closed my eyes, I met Yama. Yama told me that it was fortunate my mental note had been upright in this life; otherwise, given my karmic body, I would have had to suffer many more consequences. Originally, at the end of my life, besides the red rashes, I would have suffered from itching and oozing, but what I had done in this life offset some of my sins. It was a case of 'heavy karma, lightened retribution'. I expressed my gratitude upon hearing this. After the judgment, Yama deemed me upright and gave me the position of a prison guard, allowing me to serve beings. I am very grateful.

During my time in the hells, I served with all my might. Seeing the suffering of retribution, I had a profound realisation. People create karma because of their personalities. After hearing Practitioner Su give Dharma talks in the hells, I understood the importance of escaping the cycle of rebirth. I am deeply grateful to Practitioner Su. I never expected that I would have the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Today, I have finally achieved this. I, along with the other fifty-nine prison guards, am incredibly grateful. We are grateful for the Buddha's compassion and for the compassion of Practitioner Su.

Namo Amituofo.

Liu Linnian, with palms joined."